Bike taxi aggregator Rapido moves SC against HC order directing suspension of its services in Maha
New Delhi, Jan 17: The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear on January 23 a plea of bike taxi aggregator Rapido against the Bombay High Court order directing it to suspend its services in Maharashtra immediately for operating without a licence from the state government.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha agreed to hear the petition of the Pune-based bike taxi aggregator after senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the firm, said the matter needs to be listed urgently.
"I have thousands of employees and this court has granted a stay in a matter of Uber (cab taxi aggregator). I am just like Uber. Kindly list this matter on Friday," he submitted.
The bench said it is listing the matter for hearing on next Monday.
On January 13, the Bombay High Court had pulled up the aggregator for operating without procuring a licence from the Maharashtra government and directed it to suspend the services immediately.
It had warned Roppen Transportation Services Private Limited (Rapido) to either suspend its bike taxi services immediately or the court would issue directions to the state authorities to permanently bar the company from getting any licence.
It had noted that in the absence of a licence, the company cannot run its services in an unregulated manner.
Roppen Transportation Services Private Limited had moved the high court against a communication issued to it by the state government on December 29, 2022 refusing to grant a bike taxi aggregator's licence.
The state government had in its letter said it had no policy on the licensing of bike taxis nor a fare structure for them.
The company had assured the high court it will suspend its services till January 20 when the court would hear the matter further.
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Rahul Gandhi calls Great Nicobar Island project a ‘major threat’ to environment, tribal heritage
Sri Vijaypuram (Port Blair)/ Nicobar: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticised the Centre’s development initiative in Great Nicobar Island on Wednesday, On his maiden visit to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Gandhi alleged that the project will lad to large-scale environmental degradation and displacement of local communities.
The Rae Bareli MP, in a post on X after visiting the island, said the project would lead to extensive deforestation and adversely impact indigenous populations.
“So I will say it plainly, and I will keep saying it: what is being done in Great Nicobar is one of the biggest scams and gravest crimes against this country’s natural and tribal heritage in our lifetime,” Gandhi added.
“The government calls what it is doing here a ‘Project’. What I have seen is not a project. It is millions of trees marked for the axe… It is communities that have been ignored while their homes have been snatched away,” Gandhi said.
Describing the initiative as “destruction dressed in development’s language”, he termed it one of the “biggest scams” against the country’s natural and tribal heritage and called for it to be stopped.
Gandhi also claimed that nearly 160 square kilometres of rainforest could be affected, raising concerns over ecological damage.
